UTAH
Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — The LDS Church argued in federal court documents Tuesday that the Navajo Nation court lacks jurisdiction over the church in a lawsuit alleging two Navajo children were sexually abused in a now-defunct foster placement program.
The decisions regarding placement of tribal members with host families were made outside of the reservation and the alleged abused didn’t take place on the reservation, according to a filing in U.S. District Court.
“Tribal courts have no jurisdiction over conduct that does not occur on the tribe’s reservation,” wrote lawyers for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Two Navajo siblings sued the Mormon church in March, alleging they were sexually abused during their time with foster families in Utah in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
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